Equidistant parallel laser beam generator, vehicle body vision detection device and detection method

Abstract

The present invention provides an equidistant parallel laser beam generator, a vehicle body vision detection device and a detection method. The equidistant parallel laser beam generator includes a mounting base (22) and a plurality of laser generating units arranged in a straight line on the mounting base. Each laser generating unit includes a dot laser module (21) and a fine adjustment component (23). The dot laser module is cylindrical and has a central axis. The dot laser module can emit dot laser along the laser emission direction (Y) parallel to the central axis. The fine adjustment component can adjust the position of the central axis relative to the mounting base, so that the laser emission directions of the plurality of laser generating units are parallel to each other and at the same height, and the distance between adjacent laser emission directions is equal. The equidistant parallel laser beam generator according to the present invention has high precision and strong adjustability. The vehicle body vision detection device and the detection method according to the present invention have high efficiency and are suitable for batch measurement.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a vision detection device, and particularly to an equidistant parallel laser beam generator, a vehicle body vision detection device, and a detection method. Background Art

[0002] More and more vehicles are starting to be equipped with driving assistance functions. Generally speaking, vehicle driving assistance functions need to be completed by a driving assistance controller (hereinafter referred to as "controller"), and the controller needs to perform calibration learning. In actual production, due to factors such as different vehicle tire pressures and suspension heights, there may be a certain deviation between the actual installation height and the standard installation height of controllers such as radars and cameras of the same vehicle model, which may have a certain impact on the calibration learning of the controller. Therefore, a device is needed that can accurately determine the actual installation height of the vehicle controller. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The object of the present invention is to overcome or at least mitigate the deficiencies of the above-mentioned prior art, and to provide an equidistant parallel laser beam generator, a vehicle body vision detection device, and a detection method.

[0004] According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an equidistant parallel laser beam generator, including a mounting base and a plurality of laser generating units arranged linearly on the mounting base. Each laser generating unit includes a point laser module and a fine-tuning component.

[0005] The point laser module is cylindrical and has a central axis. The point laser module can emit a point laser along a laser beam direction parallel to the central axis.

[0006] The fine-tuning component can adjust the position of the central axis relative to the mounting base, so that the laser beam directions of the plurality of laser generating units are parallel to each other and at the same height, and the distance between adjacent laser beam directions is equal.

[0007] In at least one embodiment, at least part of the point laser module is accommodated in the mounting base. The mounting base includes a plurality of through holes arranged equidistantly, equally sized, and linearly. Each through hole is used to cooperate with the outer peripheral surface of one end of a point laser module. The fine-tuning component is arranged at an end of the mounting base away from the through holes.

[0008] In at least one embodiment, for each laser generating unit:

[0009] The fine-tuning component includes at least three fine-tuning screws, which are in threaded engagement with the screw holes provided in the mounting base and extend along the radial direction of the dot laser module. The plurality of fine-tuning screws are spaced apart circumferentially around the laser module, and the fine-tuning screws can abut against the outer peripheral surface of the dot laser module to adjust the laser emission direction.

[0010] In at least one embodiment, the equidistant parallel laser beam generator further includes a cylindrical light guide rod, which is fixed in front of the plurality of dot laser modules. The central axis of the cylindrical light guide rod is perpendicular to the central axis of the through hole and passes through the central axis of the through hole. The dot lasers emitted by the plurality of dot laser modules are diverged by the cylindrical light guide rod to form a line laser perpendicular to the axial direction of the cylindrical light guide rod.

[0011] In at least one embodiment, there is also a buffer block between the fine-tuning screw and the dot laser module.

[0012] According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle body vision detection device, including the equidistant parallel laser beam generator according to the first aspect of the present invention and a camera module.

[0013] The equidistant parallel laser beam generator can generate a set of equidistant and parallel laser beams, and the laser beams can irradiate a specified position on the vehicle body.

[0014] The camera module is used to photograph the specified position on the vehicle body and the laser beams thereon, and the photographing range of the camera module is larger than the irradiation range of the laser beams on the vehicle.

[0015] In at least one embodiment, the vehicle body vision detection device further includes a position adjustment mechanism, which can adjust the positions of the equidistant parallel laser beam generator and the camera module in the horizontal direction and / or the height in the vertical direction, so that the vehicle body vision detection device can adapt to different models of vehicles.

[0016] In at least one embodiment, the vehicle body vision detection device further includes a light source module, which can supplement light to the object to be photographed within the photographing range.

[0017] In at least one embodiment, the camera module includes a monocular camera, and the imaging resolution of the monocular camera is not less than 6 million pixels.

[0018] According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle body vision detection method, which uses the vehicle body vision detection device according to the second aspect of the present invention to detect a specified position on the vehicle body of a vehicle. The detection method includes:

[0019] Irradiate a specified position of the vehicle body with parallel laser beams provided by the vehicle body vision detection device, and obtain an image of the specified position of the vehicle body irradiated by the laser beams. The distance between adjacent lasers in the laser beams is the actual distance.

[0020] In the image, obtain the pixel distance between the adjacent lasers, and obtain the pixel height of the specified position of the vehicle body.

[0021] Calculate the actual height of the specified position of the vehicle body according to the actual distance, the pixel distance, and the pixel height.

[0022] The equal-distance parallel laser beam generator according to the present invention has high precision and strong adjustability. The vehicle body vision detection device and the detection method according to the present invention have high detection efficiency and are suitable for batch measurement. Description of the Drawings

[0023] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the detection principle of a vehicle body vision detection method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a vehicle body vision detection device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0025] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a partial structure of a vehicle body vision detection device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of an equal-distance parallel laser beam generator 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 5 is an exploded view of an equal-distance parallel laser beam generator 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0028] Figures 6 to 8 is a schematic diagram of a laser generation device 20A of an equal-distance parallel laser beam generator 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0029] Description of the Reference Numerals

[0030] 100 Vehicle body vision detection device;

[0031] 20 Equal-distance parallel laser beam generator; 20A Laser generation device; 20B Electrical components;

[0032] 21 Dot laser module; 22 Mounting seat; 22A Bottom wall; 22B Side wall; 23 Fine adjustment component; 24 Cylindrical light guide rod; 25 Front cover plate; 26 Rear cover plate;

[0033] 30 Camera module; 40 Height adjustment mechanism; 50 Light source module; 60 Shifting mechanism; 70 Cabinet;

[0034] A Vehicle wheel arch; A1 Highest point; S Laser beam; P Camera range; Y Laser direction;

[0035] H0 Standard design height; H1 Actual height; L1 Actual spacing. Specific implementation manner

[0036] The exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that these specific descriptions are only used to teach those skilled in the art how to implement the present invention, and are not used to exhaust all feasible ways of the present invention, nor are they used to limit the scope of the present invention.

[0037] The distance between any point on the body of the same model or different models and the controller is fixed. Based on this phenomenon, taking any point on the body as a reference point, measuring the actual height H1 of this reference point and calculating it with the standard design height H0 of this reference point, a difference value can be obtained, and this difference value can be used to calculate the actual installation height of the controller. Calculating the standard installation height of the controller with the difference value can obtain the actual installation height of the controller. That is, actual height H1 - standard design height H0 = difference value, difference value + standard installation height = actual installation height (in this article, "height" all refers to the relative height with respect to the horizontal plane).

[0038] Based on the above principle, below with reference to Figures 1 to 3 , an introduction will be given to a vehicle body vision detection device 100 and a detection method according to an embodiment of the present invention. The vehicle body vision detection device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an equidistant parallel laser beam generator 20 and a camera module 30. The equidistant parallel laser beam generator 20 can generate a set of equidistant parallel laser beams S. The laser beam S is composed of multiple ( Figure 1 7 are shown in

[0039] With reference to Figure 1, in this embodiment, the highest point A1 of the vehicle wheel arch A is used as the reference point. The shooting height of the camera module 30 is the same as the standard design height H0 of the highest point A1 of the vehicle wheel arch A. During use, the equidistant parallel laser beam generator 20 generates a set of equidistant parallel laser beams S, and the laser beams S can shoot onto the wheel arch A. The actual distance L1 between adjacent laser beams S is known. Then, the camera module 30 takes a picture of the wheel arch A (hereinafter also referred to as a snapshot). In the snapshot picture, a pixel distance is formed between adjacent laser beams S, that is, the distance between adjacent two lasers in the picture measured in pixel points; the highest point A1 of the vehicle wheel arch A has a pixel height, that is, the height of the highest point A1 in the picture measured in pixel points. Through automatic software analysis, the ratio of the actual distance L1 between the laser beams S to the pixel distance in the snapshot picture can be calculated. By calculating this ratio with the pixel height of the highest point A1 in the snapshot picture, the actual height H1 of the highest point A1 can be obtained, and thus the difference can be obtained. Actual distance L1 / Pixel distance = Actual height H1 / Pixel height.

[0040] Referring to Figure 2 and Figure 3 , according to the vehicle body vision detection device 100 of this embodiment, it further includes a position adjustment mechanism, a light source module 50, and a box body 70 for accommodating the above-mentioned equidistant parallel laser beam generator 20, camera module 30, and light source module 50.

[0041] The position adjustment mechanism is used to adjust the spatial position of the box body 70 so that the vehicle body vision detection device 100 can adapt to different models of vehicles. The position adjustment mechanism includes a height adjustment mechanism 40 and a displacement mechanism 60.

[0042] The height adjustment mechanism 40 can adjust the vertical height of the box body 70, so that the shooting height of the camera module 30 in the box body 70 is the same as the standard design height H0 of the highest point A1 of the vehicle wheel arch A, for easy shooting.

[0043] The displacement mechanism 60 can adjust the horizontal position of the box body 70, so that the shooting range P of the camera module 30 in the box body 70 can cover the target shooting area.

[0044] The light source module 50 can fill light for the object to be photographed within the shooting range P of the camera module 30, that is, fill light for the vehicle wheel arch A, so as to facilitate shooting and accurate detection even in a light-deficient environment.

[0045] In this embodiment, the camera module 30 is arranged adjacent to the equidistant parallel laser beam generator 20, and there is a light source module 50 above and below the camera module 30 and the equidistant parallel laser beam generator 20 respectively to achieve the effect of uniform light filling.

[0046] The imaging module 30 includes a monocular camera. Generally speaking, the higher the resolution of the camera imaging, the higher the subsequent measurement and calculation accuracy. Preferably, the resolution of the imaging of the camera of the imaging module 30 is not less than 6 million pixels. Preferably, the range of the focusable distance of the camera of the imaging module 30 is greater than the interval of 30 cm to 70 cm. Preferably, when the focus distance is 30 cm, the field of view range of the camera is about 16 cm * 10 cm; when the focus distance is 40 cm, the field of view range of the camera is about 25 cm * 15 cm; when the focus distance is 50 cm, the field of view range of the camera is about 35 cm * 25 cm.

[0047] Next, with reference to Figures 4 to 8 , an equidistant parallel laser beam generator 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be introduced. The equidistant parallel laser beam generator 20 includes a laser generation device 20A and an electrical component 20B. The laser generation device 20A includes a plurality of laser generation units, a mounting base 22, a cylindrical light guide rod 24, a front cover plate 25, and a rear cover plate 26. Among them, one laser generation unit includes a point laser module 21 and a corresponding set of fine-tuning components 23.

[0048] The point laser module 21 is cylindrical and has a central axis. For example, the point laser module 21 can be cylindrical or polygonal prism-shaped. The point laser module 21 can emit point laser along a direction parallel to its own central axis. Preferably, the point laser module 21 can emit point laser along its own central axis. Hereinafter, the irradiation direction of this point laser is referred to as the laser direction Y (refer to Figure 6 ).

[0049] The bottom wall 22A of the mounting base 22 has a through hole, and the through hole can be circular or polygonal with a central axis to correspond to the outer peripheral surface of the point laser module 21. The through hole forms a clearance fit with the outer peripheral surface of the point laser module 21 to facilitate subsequent fine-tuning of the laser direction Y of the point laser module 21. Preferably, the bottom wall 22A of the mounting base 22 has 7 equally spaced, equally sized, linearly arranged through holes, and the hole pitch between adjacent two through holes is 20 mm to cooperate with 7 point laser modules 21 to form a laser beam with an actual pitch L1 of 20 mm. The mounting base 22 also has a side wall 22B, so that the point laser module 21 is at least partially enclosed in the mounting base 22. At least a part of the side wall 22B can be recessed towards the gap between the plurality of point laser modules 21 to facilitate the following fine-tuning screw to extend along the radial direction of the point laser module 21. One end of the mounting base 22 opposite to the bottom wall 22A is at least partially open to facilitate the point laser of the point laser module 21 to emit from the open part of the mounting base 22. In this embodiment, the open part forms an open hole corresponding to the through hole. It should be understood that this end can also be completely open.

[0050] On the side wall 22B of the mounting base 22, a fine-tuning assembly 23 is provided at a position away from the bottom wall 22A. The fine-tuning assembly 23 includes a plurality of fine-tuning screws. The fine-tuning screws are in threaded engagement with the mounting base 22 and extend along the radial direction of the dot laser module 21 so as to be able to abut against the outer peripheral surface of the dot laser module 21 located within the mounting base 22. Each dot laser module 21 is at least engaged with three fine-tuning screws, and the fine-tuning screws are circumferentially spaced apart around each dot laser module 21. By adjusting the tightness of the fine-tuning screws on the mounting base 22, the laser emissions of the plurality of dot laser modules 21 can be adjusted to be equidistant, at the same height and parallel.

[0051] Preferably, there is a buffer block between the fine-tuning screw and the outer peripheral surface of the dot laser module 21. The buffer block can be a flexible material such as plastic or foam to prevent the fine-tuning screw from directly contacting the outer peripheral surface of the dot laser module 21. The buffer block can be fixed on the fine-tuning screw, or fixed on the outer peripheral surface of the dot laser module 21, or arranged in the threaded hole of the mounting base 22 so that the buffer block is clamped between the fine-tuning screw and the dot laser module 21 during the process of screwing the fine-tuning screw.

[0052] Preferably, the minimum circumferential spacing angle between the fine-tuning screws engaged with one dot laser module 21 is not greater than 180°.

[0053] Preferably, there are three fine-tuning screws engaged with one dot laser module 21. The three fine-tuning screws are circumferentially and equidistantly spaced around the dot laser module 21, that is, the circumferential spacing angle between two adjacent fine-tuning screws is 120°. Among them, one fine-tuning screw is located directly below the dot laser module 21 (refer to Figure 7 , the up and down relationship in the text is based on the setting orientation when the equidistant parallel laser beam generator 20 is in normal working state), and the other two fine-tuning screws are respectively located at the upper left and upper right of the dot laser module 21 (refer to Figure 8 ).

[0054] The cylindrical light guide rod 24 is arranged in front of the dot laser module 21, and the central axis of the cylindrical light guide rod 24 is perpendicular and intersects with the central axis of the through hole on the mounting base 22, that is, the central axis of the cylindrical light guide rod 24 is also substantially perpendicular and intersects with the laser emission direction Y of the dot laser module 21. Thus, the cylindrical light guide rod 24 can diverge the dot laser emitted by the dot laser module 21 to form a line laser perpendicular to the axial direction of the cylindrical light guide rod 24. The cylindrical light guide rod 24 can be a cylindrical rod made of light guide material, such as a transparent glass rod or acrylic rod without air bubbles and impurities. The plurality of dot laser modules 21 emit onto the same cylindrical light guide rod to form a group of equidistant and parallel line lasers, making the equidistant precision between the line lasers higher and the adjustability stronger.

[0055] Specifically, in this embodiment, the cylindrical light guide rod 24 is fixed at the above position by the front cover plate 25 and the rear cover plate 26. The rear cover plate 26 and the front cover plate 25 can be seamlessly connected by positioning pins, fastening screws, etc. A fixing groove for fixing the cylindrical light guide rod 24 is provided on the side of the rear cover plate 26 facing the front cover plate 25. The fixing groove can be a semi-circular groove or a square groove. The fixing groove has a high machining accuracy, making the groove slightly smaller than the cylindrical light guide rod 24. The cylindrical light guide rod 24 is placed in the fixing groove of the rear cover plate 26. After the rear cover plate 26 and the front cover plate 25 are closed, the cylindrical light guide rod 24 is tightly fixed in the fixing groove and will not shake.

[0056] The side of the rear cover plate 26 facing away from the front cover plate 25 and the mounting base 22 can be seamlessly connected by positioning pins, fastening screws, etc. The rear cover plate 26 and the front cover plate 25 also have light-passing portions corresponding to the point laser module 21 on the mounting base 22. The light-passing portions enable the point laser to pass through the rear cover plate 26 into the cylindrical light guide rod 24 in sequence, and form a line laser to pass through the front cover plate 25. The light-passing portions can be light-passing through holes, and the size of the light-passing through holes is adjusted according to the size of the cross-section of the point laser and the line laser formed thereby. The light-passing through holes can be circular holes or square holes. The hole positions of the light-passing through holes are located on the central axis of the cylindrical light guide rod 24 within the fixing groove.

[0057] Preferably, the front cover plate 25 is made of plastic material to prevent the cylindrical light guide rod 24 from being crushed after the rear cover plate 26 and the front cover plate 25 are tightened.

[0058] The present invention has at least one of the following advantages:

[0059] (i) The equidistant parallel laser beam generator provided by the present invention can accurately adjust the parallelism of the laser, thereby ensuring a high detection accuracy;

[0060] (ii) The detection method provided by the present invention uses a laser as a calibration object to achieve non-contact measurement, which is convenient for batch measurement and has a high measurement efficiency;

[0061] (iii) The present invention uses a monocular camera for measurement, which is simpler in process and lower in cost compared with binocular measurement.

[0062] Of course, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. Those skilled in the art can make various modifications to the above embodiments of the present invention under the teaching of the present invention without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A vehicle body vision detection method, characterized in that, the detection method uses a vehicle body vision detection device (100) to detect a specified position of the vehicle body, and the detection method includes: irradiating the specified position of the vehicle body with parallel laser beams (S) provided by the vehicle body vision detection device (100), and obtaining an image of the specified position of the vehicle body irradiated by the laser beams (S), the distance between adjacent lasers in the laser beams (S) being the actual spacing (L1), in the image, obtaining the pixel spacing between the adjacent lasers, and obtaining the pixel height of the specified position of the vehicle body, calculating the actual height (H1) of the specified position of the vehicle body according to the actual spacing (L1), the pixel spacing and the pixel height, the specified position of the vehicle body being the highest point of the vehicle wheel arch, the vehicle body vision detection device includes an equidistant parallel laser beam generator (20) and a camera module (30), the equidistant parallel laser beam generator (20) is capable of generating a set of equidistant and parallel laser beams (S), and the laser beams (S) can irradiate a specified position of the vehicle body, the camera module (30) is used to photograph the specified position of the vehicle body and the laser beams (S) thereon, and the photographing range (P) of the camera module (30) is larger than the irradiation range of the laser beams (S) on the vehicle, the equidistant parallel laser beam generator includes a mounting base (22) and a plurality of laser generating units arranged in a straight line on the mounting base (22), each laser generating unit including a point laser module (21) and a fine adjustment component (23), the point laser module (21) is cylindrical and has a central axis, and the point laser module (21) can emit point lasers along a laser emission direction (Y) parallel to the central axis, the fine adjustment component (23) can adjust the position of the central axis relative to the mounting base (22) so that the laser emission directions (Y) of the plurality of laser generating units are parallel to each other and at the same height, and the spacing between adjacent laser emission directions (Y) is equal, the equidistant parallel laser beam generator further includes a cylindrical light guide rod (24), the cylindrical light guide rod (24) is fixed in front of the plurality of point laser modules (21), and the point lasers emitted by the plurality of point laser modules (21) are diverged by the cylindrical light guide rod (24) to form line lasers perpendicular to the axial direction of the cylindrical light guide rod (24).

2. The vehicle body vision detection method according to claim 1, characterized in that, at least part of the point laser module (21) is accommodated in the mounting base (22), the mounting base (22) includes a plurality of through holes arranged at equal distances, equal sizes and linearly, each through hole being used to cooperate with the outer peripheral surface of one end of a point laser module (21), and the fine adjustment component (23) is arranged at one end of the mounting base (22) far from the through holes.

3. The vehicle body vision detection method according to claim 1, characterized in that, for each of the laser generating units: The fine-tuning component (23) includes at least three fine-tuning screws, which are in threaded fit with the screw holes provided in the mounting base (22) and extend along the radial direction of the dot laser module (21). The plurality of fine-tuning screws are spaced apart in the circumferential direction of the dot laser module (21), and the fine-tuning screws can abut against the outer peripheral surface of the dot laser module (21) to adjust the laser shooting direction (Y).

4. The vehicle body vision detection method according to claim 2, characterized in that, The central axis of the cylindrical light guide rod (24) is perpendicular to the central axis of the through hole and passes through the central axis of the through hole.

5. The vehicle body vision detection method according to claim 3, characterized in that, A buffer block is further provided between the fine-tuning screw and the dot laser module (21).

6. The vehicle body vision detection method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, The vehicle body vision detection device further includes a position adjustment mechanism, and the position adjustment mechanism can adjust the positions of the equidistant parallel laser beam generator (20) and the camera module (30) in the horizontal direction and / or the height in the vertical direction, so that the vehicle body vision detection device can adapt to different models of vehicles.

7. The vehicle body vision detection method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, The vehicle body vision detection device further includes a light source module (50), and the light source module (50) can supplement light to the object to be photographed within the photographing range (P).

8. The vehicle body vision detection method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, The camera module (30) includes a monocular camera, and the imaging resolution of the monocular camera is not less than 6 million pixels.

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